For the first time in human history, the hydrological balance has been disrupted, undermining a fair, sustainable future, Henk Ovink, executive director and founding Commissioner for the Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW), said at the event "Water for Climate: Integrating Water Issues into NDCs and NAPs" within COP29, Report informs.
"The degradation of freshwater ecosystems, including the loss of soil moisture, has become a driving force for climate change and biodiversity loss. A one-degree temperature rise means a 7% increase in water vapor in the atmosphere, which intensifies the occurrence of abnormal climate phenomena such as excessive drought and heat waves," he said.
Ovink noted that currently about 3 billion people and more than half of global food production are in areas where a reduction in total water resources is predicted.
He added that bolder and more integrated thinking, along with restructuring of political frameworks, is needed to solve these problems.